Hello Ned, you inspired me to become very good pyrotechnician, I learned a lot of things about fireworks because of you. Thanks to you and your videos and you are welcome to my channel. Peace.
Great info and easy to understand. I like the way you explain different uses of the different grades of the components. I plan to begin making my own fireworks after a bit more learning. THANKS!!
That's the right approach. I spent at least 9 months reading, watching and generally researching before I made my first, simple fireworking attempt. I don't regret that one little bit, what I learned saved me from some embarrassing and potentially dangerous 'schoolboy' errors! A lot of what I learned came from Ned too. His calm, clear explanations helped to keep me safe. In this hobby, that's especially important, because when it goes wrong, it usually goes wrong really, really fast... BTW, for your edification, here's a thread relating to my early exposure to an Amid reaction that scared the daylights out of me... pyro-gear.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=48 Be aware, stay safe!
I used your advice and I was extremely pleased with the results on my salutes and rocket nozzles 😎👍👍 thanks again for the great lessons including the safety advice as well.it goes hand and hand
Amazing video I feel like I should be paying to watch this information I mean like I’ve paid a lot of money to learn things and your going into so much detail it’s great and I’m very great full for it! I’m someone with interest on how fireworks are made and will probably never make them but this is amazing information and I will continue your series :) thank you Cameron USA
Thank you for you guidance and direction you have given us through your videos. This information you give freely, is the difference between someone just making firecrackers to making some pretty cool fountains, mines, aerial shells, sky rockets and everything in between. Your videos are an awesome resource of really valuable pyrotechnic information and recipes. You should put all your videos on an inexpensive flash drive and offer it to your viewers for a reasonable price. I would be the first to purchase it. Thanks again and God Bless
All the info, and so much more, including ongoing conversations with very experienced, great fireworkers, and newcomers alike, is all available in Fireworking.com , Sky. Given the effort that goes into it all, and the expenses of running the site, the 40 bucks a year is considered by many members to be the best money they spend on pyro.
ned gorski ... Thank you for letting me know this. $40.00 a year is not much at all. I am going to check this out when I get back to my house this evening. Thanks again for all the info you give and for letting me know about the Fireworking.com web community. Have a great day
Ive never tried the graphite in clay mix for nozzles... Sounds like a great idea, i use a lot of home made formers and tools, most made of wood, so this may clean up the release.. Thanks for the tip
I work for one of those companies that has a process to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S, nasty stuff) from natural gas and then catalytic conversion to elemental sulphur. A couple are in Alabama (southwest I think) Some plants do that, some reinject it. One plant, in Wyoming, sits on a hill ( I'm told) and has a steam jacketed pipeline that takes the liquid sulphur down to a fertilizer plant. When I was younger I worked for a company that built them (late 70's / early 80's) as well as other kinds of plants. I avoid sour gas plants now that I realize that I'm not going to live forever :o) It was a good experience though...
I came here from your 1 lb. skyrocket lesson from Fireworking 201 to see about your graphited clay. Not having graphite, but having lampblack, I was wondering whether you know of the latter's working instead of the graphite -- or of any other substitute I might have handy. TIA
Now I see another article where you're mixing fire grog and wax iinstead of graphite into the clay, and it includes a clue that that one is subsequent to this one, but I'm not sure. Which do you prefer now?
Willow charcoal makes good black powder, and hot propellant for some types of rocket motors. The hot BP can be used in black powder maroons, a sort of salute.
The Mammoth Cave (and all cave) nitrates are the result of bat guano deposits .... They would leach the clay of the cave floor with water ... And then boil it with "potash" to accomplish the conversion ....
Hi Ned, Just read one of your articles at another web site and wanted to share some information related to this. As I'm unable to post any comment there, I'm taking the liberty to post it here, as it relates to the solvent chemical Methylene Chloride. Anyway, interesting fact ... even though this smells as if it's highly flammable, it's actually not. It's only rated "Level 1 - Materials that are normally stable, but become explosive at elevated temperatures and pressure". Cheers.
Yep, DCM smells extremely flammable and being such a powerful solvent you'd think it would be, but the stuff requires more heat to burn than it produces by burning so it's not self-sustaining. If you put some in a sealed fire proof bottle and pumped it full of oxygen then tossed that in a fire, you better watch out, it will burn once at a high enough temp.
Hey Ned weird question. why is willow tree best for black powder? i can't get a good answer on this. i'm guessing here, but does it have to do with the salicylic acid in it or the grain structure itself.
Much research has gone into what makes a wood good for BP charcoal, Chris. I'm not a chemist, and prefer to just focus on what works. Willow, Paulownia, Eastern Red Cedar, and some other woods, simply have what it takes to cook into charcoal that makes primo black powder. Some folks do explore the reports on the chemical structure of those charcoals, though.
ned gorski I watched the whole day all you're videos. very intresting! I know better how to work with it. I buyed 1000 gramms of titanium, 100-250 mesh. but i'm searcing for 1000 mesh
1000 mesh is extremely fine, and can actually become pyrophoric at that small size. It might be useful in primes, but not really in any visual effects. Be careful, and enjoy. ned
Hello ned, thanks for your time, I have a question about oxydants like potassium nitrate and perchlorate, do they have a deadline for consumption? Thanks...
Throw some desiccant packs in your storage containers for long term storage, and tape the edges of the lid, doing both of those things will make even finely ground ammonium nitrate stay bone dry for years. Two liter soda bottles also make great long term storage containers as long as the bottle and oxidizer are completely dry when pouring it in, but once that cap is on it will last for literally hundreds of years.
Hey Ned got a question. Can you use Northern White Cedar for lift black powder? Your videos are the best. Keep making more💪 Also what kind of material can I use as a plug for cake tubes?
I've not tested that kind of cedar, Kid, but the cedars, in general, do make good BP charcoal. It's certainly worth a try. I use Dr. Elsey's plain clay cat litter for nozzles and bulkheads, and it'd make good rammed plugs in such tubes. Enjoy.
@@nedgorski ty for your fast response. Yea northern white cedar is one of the lighter woods so I was just checking with you before I go and get my wood😂 no pun intended. I'll let you know how it goes once I've cooked it and assemble my cakes. I just might start a business because of the air float shortage. Keep those videos coming and stay safe. Oh yea the pyro license course from p.g.i. Now if I took that course is it good in all states. The tech in mine said it's no good here and if I get it here. it's only a year. And does p.g.i do courses in maine?
@@feezekid4208 Good luck with the charcoal and cakes. The PGI course is not a licensure course, just a display operator's course. It depends on the state as far as what is required to become a licensed display operator. I don't know about up in Maine. I'd check with any local display companies concerning that.
@@nedgorski Hey Ned. quick question🤔. I was watching your video on skylighter and was wondering do you actually need dextrin for granulating black powder?
I like it as pure as possible. We con't want rocks and crud in there, or hygroscopic chemicals like sodium. But, it doesn't have to be technical grade. A good greenhouse-grade works fine.
Ned I know there's ur site. Then a lot of other sites what do u recommend joining. I see you've worked with skylighter on some stuff. Which are the best to join other than urs? Do u know the fees involved? I'm trying to get a list of costs together associated with fireworking & which things are a must. Thanks for any light u can shed on the subject.
well, it might sound self-serving, Dylan, but Fireworking.com is the most active fireworking website I know of, with loads of good articles, formulas, and other info, plus 900 very active pyros asking and answering questions, pondering experiments, sharing their successes, efforts, and setbacks, and discussing some of life in general, too. Beyond the site, I do often point folks toward the free projects on Skylighter, some of which I produced, and some printed literature, also, much of which is listed as available in the Fireworking.com Store. Fireworking 101, 201, and 301 are geared toward getting a newcomer's feet wet in this art without a huge expenditure in tooling and machinery. Enjoy, and good luck.
@@nedgorski thanks for getting back to me I'm heading out in a bit to get that money order we spoke about. I'm excited to immerse myself into the full access pass to fireworking. I'll enclose my contact info as requested. To me at this point it's a given that joining the group will probably be the best money spent. To get myself familiarized with hobbyist fireworking. I gotta say hat's off to u I've been watching a lot of vids & a lot of guys attribute their success or things they're using or doing to u. I only wish I knew sooner. I never even thought it would've been possible to do as I'm lighting consumer stuff off for years. To possibly make something on my own. Thanks again. We'll talk soon again
@@dylanhealy4473 It's an interesting artform, Dylan, one which most folks wouldn't even imagine it'd be possible to pursue, and one which has serious depths of possibilities of exploration, appealing to a particular mindset and set of skills. For the right person, it's really satisfying, and has kept me interested for 3 decades now. Enjoy.
Be aware that there is "clay litter" that is good and will consolidate nicely, and there is "clay litter" which is crappy, and won't consolidate much at all. Been there, done that. ned
Im reading a lot of beginner Questions,,,,, worries me a little.... please,,, anyone looking to build fireworks,,,,, go to some safety classes first....You just cant watch a bunch of youtube videos and think you know how to build explosives,,, especially making your own BP or FP....Things have changed a lot since I started... Now you can buy powder, stars, shells, nozzle's, black match, time fuse and all kinds of fancy stuff.... Back in the day we had to make our own.... Learn from the old guys that have all their digits,,,, So if you are just wanting to make some booms for the 4th of july,,, save your fingers and buy some
@@nedgorski ok. That is great. Wouldn't want to get in trouble etc. Fireworks and model rockets seem like fun hobby but dangerous and expensive to buy everything to get set up. Thanks Ned
All of this is a work in progress, with the folks at FireworksCookbook stocking the chems, in the right quantities, that are spec'd in FW101, so they may be in the process of loading the graphite this week. You could ask them about it. Often chems are available from online sources which show up with a Google search, too, and some chems are available locally from pottery supply houses, and the like, too.
Perchlorates have been banned where I live and unfortunately it's an ingredient in many stars. Is there any simple stars based on black powder chemicals or similar? Of course not expecting as crisp colors but to be able to get something for visual effects.
Yes, Henrik, there is a wide variety of charcoal-tailed stars, with and without metals for metal sparks. I'll be detailing some simple BP-based stars in FW101. It's my opinion that a lifetime of satisfying fireworking can be had just working with the chemicals I showed in this video.
